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B. L. STOWE. AUTOMATIC GAR BRAKE; I No. 245,577. Patented Aug. 9,1881.

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B. L. STOWE. AUTOMATIC OAR BRAKE.

No. 245,577. Patented Aug. 9, 1-881.

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B. L. STOWE. AUTOMATIC GAR BRAKE.

No. 245,577. Patented Aug. 9,1881,

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B. L. STOWE.

AUTOMATIC GAR BRAKE.

Patented Aug. 9, 1881.

6 Sheets-Sheet 4.

N. PETERS. Plwln'Lllhogmpher. Washmglam n C.

(No Model.) 6 S heets-Sheet 6.

B. L. STOWE.

AUTOMATIC GAR BRAKE. I No. 245,577. Patented Aug 9, 1881.

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BENJAMIN L. STOWE, OF NEW' YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO J. VAN D. REED,

OF SAME PLACE.

AUTOMATIC CAR-BRAKE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 245,577, dated August9, 1881.

Application filed May 17, 1881. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, BENJAMIN ,L. Brown, of the city, county, and Stateof New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inAutomatic Brakes for Railway-Oars,

of which the following is a specification.

The automatic car-brake to which my invention relates is one of thatclass in which a shaft connected with the brake mechanism and pro- IOvided with a pulley or drum is movable to and from one of the car ortruck axles provided with a like pulley or drum, so that at requiredtimes the shaft may be rotated in order to put in action the brakemechanism by reason of the frictional contact between its drum and thatupon the revolving axle; and it may be considered more particularly asan improvement upon the automatic car-brake shown and described in myapplication for Letters Patout filed in the United States Patent OfficeNovember 11, 1880, serial No. 20,425. In common with the mechanism setforth in said application, my present brake contains afriction-pulleyshaft movable to and from the caraxle, and provided with a relief-springwhich yields to permit the separation of the shaft and axle when thestrain on the brakes exceeds the prescribed limit; also, an upper brakeor winding shaft combined with a throw-off spring 0 which is put undertension when the automaticbrake mechanism is applying the brakes. I alsomake use of acentrifugal or gravity mechanism for operating at requiredtimes the device which disconnects thefriction-pulley shaft 5 from themechanism by which it is forced toward and into engagement with thecar-axle, said centrifugal or gravity mechanism being similar inprinciple and general mode of operation to that described in myaforesaid appli- 0 cation, but differing therefrom in construction andarrangement.

My improvements principally relate to the devices whereby theinstrumentalities for moving the friction-pulley shaft to and from the 45 axle are thrown into and out of operative connection with themechanism which is caused to act on the same by the movement of thedraw-bar, my object being to reduce the number of and simplify theparts, obtaining a mech- 5o anism which, while entirely effective, shallbe free from complicatio'nand not liable to get out of order.

The improvements can bestbecxplained and understood by reference to theaccompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of somuch of a car-truck with my improvements applied as is needed for thepurpose of explanation. Fig.

2 is a sectional side elevation of the same, together with the draw barand timbers and a portion of the car-frame. Fig. 3 is a plan of thesame. Fig. 4 is an elevation, and Fig. 5

is a plan on an enlarged scale, of that portion of the mechanism whichoperates on the friction-pulley shaft. Fig. 6 is a sectional elevationon line 00 m, Fig. 5. Figs. 7 and Sare longitudinal and transversesections, respectively,

of the centrifugal or gravity mechanism. Fig.

9 is an elevation of that bearing for the friction-pulley shaft whichcarries the relief-spring. Fig. 10 is an elevation of the other bearingfor said shaft. Figs. 11 and 12 represent, respectively in perspectiveand inverted plan, those portions of the mechanism which are connectedto the draw-bar and draw-timbers. Figs. 13, 14c, and 15 representmodifications to be hereinafter described.

In the drawings, A are portions of the carframe; B are the draw-timbers;O is the truckframe; D, thetransom; Earethesafety-beams; F, the axles;G, the wheels, and H portions of the hand-brake mechanism, all of whichare of ordinary or suitable construction.

I is the friction-pulley shaft, upon which is fixed the pulley or huh I,said shaft being supported in end bearings, I 1, (shown more clearlyinFigs. 9 and 10,) which are elongated to permit the shaft to be moved toand from the adjoining axle F, so as to bring at required times its hubor pulley I into contact with 0 the friction-drum F on the axle. In thebearin g I the shaft I is received in a box, a, movable in the bearingand combined with a reliefspring, a, which permits the shaft to recedefrom the axle when the strain on the brakes 5 becomes excessive. Shaft Iis connected to the upper brake or winding shaft, J, by a chain,

.K, which is attached to the sides of pulley I and to a drum, J, fast onshaft J, around which drum the chain passes once or twice. The shaft Jis supported in proper bearings at one end in the draw-timber and at theother end in the car-frame, and is combined with a throwoff spring, Jwhich is put under tension when the shaft is rotated to apply thebrakes, and acts, when the brakes are to be taken oif, to assist inunwinding the chain Lfrom the shaft. This chain L is attached at one endto the side of the drum J and at the other end to the equalizing-lever Mat the same point at which the hand brake-rod H is also connected to thelever.

The parts above described, in their general arrangement and mode ofoperation, resemblethe like parts of the automatic-brake mechanismcontained in my aforesaid application for Letters Patent. They require,therefore, no special description here.

I now proceed to describe the instrumentalities whereby thefriction-pulley shaft is at stated times thrown into and out ofoperative connection with the car-axle which carries the friction-drum.

The friction-drum, which is hollow, is made in halves, which are clampedupon the axle, Figs. 1, 7, and S. The space within the drum communicateswith the outside only through a narrow annular slot, b, in one side ofthe drum. Within the drum is placed 'the centrifugal arrangement, whichconsists of, preferably, four wheel-weights, c, which can slide in orout, toward or from the axle of the car, upon radial studs 0, whichextend through and from the inner hub of the drum to and through theouter circumference of the drum. A shoulder upon each of the studsprevents it Irom slipping outwardly; and when the drum is clamped uponthe axles the inner end of the stud rests against the axle, and isthereby prevented from slipping inwardly. The action and purpose ofthese wheel-weights are similar to thosedescribed in my aforesaidapplication, and also my Letters Patent Nos. 281,115 and 23l,l16viz., toautomatically destroy working connection between the draw-bar and itsattached mechanism and the brake-applying mechanism when the car ismoving very slowly, and to allow it to be established when the trainmoves at a greater speed. The hub of the drum is elongated upon the sideof the drum in which is the opening I), and is formed with a wideperipheral groove, d.

To the transom D is firmly bolted the bracket N, whose lower armsupports a curved lever, e, secured in place by a bolt, j, which passesquite loosely through the rear end of the lever in such a way as to holdthe lever in position without preventing it from rocking. The lever, asshown, is curved at about its center and nearly balanced, so that itwill rock upon the upper surface of the arm on which it rests. The frontend of the lever is bent horizontally to a right angle and beveled, asseen in Fig. 5, and this end projects into the interior of drum Fthrough annular slot 1), and extends intotheplaneofrevolutionofthewheel-weights,

so that the lever will be pushed by the wheelweights whenever the axlerevolves slowly enough to allow the latter to fall toward the axlebefore reaching the beveled end of the lever. The lateral vibration ofthe lever is limited by a stop piece or plate, 0, (preferably ofhardened steel,) of proper size, riveted to the under side of the leverand resting in the groove d.

The lever 12 is designed to act on a sliding locking cross-pin, g, whichat one end is received in a horizontally-elon gated bearin g, g, in theplate 1 and at the other end passes through a strap or loop-likebearing-piece, 9 on the under side of the horizontal arm of bracket N.The pin, by means of a spiral spring, h,.(which encircles it, and bearsat one end against plate I and at the other against a collar, h, shrunkon the pin,) is normally held in a position where it will extend acrossa narrow longitudinal slot, i, formed in the front portion of thehorizontal arm of bracket N, and it is moved in the opposite directionby means of the lever e, which is provided with a shoulder orenlargement, 0 that bears laterally against a collar, If, on the pin, asseen plainly in Fig. 6. The pin, by means of a hook-like link,j, isconnected with the friction-pulley shaft I, so that the two shall movetogether when the pin is moved back and forth longitudinally of the car,the link being constructed as seen in Fig. 4, so that it may be hookedupon or nnhooked from the pin at pleasure, its book end lying betweentwo collars, h 11?, on the pin. This movement of the pin causes theshaft I to be drawn toward the the axle, and is effected through theintermediary of a vertical lever, O, which is connected with thedraw-bar,and is provided with a flattened lower end that projectsthrough the slot 1', and when in operative position extends down behindthe pin g. 'When the parts are in this position it will be seen that ifthe lever 0 be vibrated in a direction to throw its lower end forwardthis end will bear against the pin and press it forward also; andthrough the intermediary of the link j like movement will be imparted tothe friction-pulley shaft, which will thus be drawn toward the car-axleand friction drum thereon. When, on the other hand, the pin,by theaction of lever e, is pushed back from across the slot i, operativeconnection between the lever 0 and the pin is destroyed, and the leverceases to affect the friction-pulley shaft.

The manner of connecting the vertical lever O (which,for conveniencesake,l will term the draw-bar lever) with the draw-bar is as follows: Tothe rear of the draw-bar P is loosely connected, by means of thedraw-bar bolt k, an L-shaped strap or bar, I, which at its rear end isprovided with a hole or opening, so as to loosely encircle the upper endof the lever O, as shown in Fig. 11. Vertically beneath bar I, and belowthe draw-bar timbers, I arrange another bar, m, which is a slide-bar,

lIO

supported in bearings n,,formed, the one in the turned-down loop of aU-shaped piece, 0, secured to the under side of the draw-bar timbers inthe place usuallyoccupied by the drawbar guides, and the other in abridge-piece,0, fastened to the under side of piece '0. The slide-bar mis also formed at its rear with a hole or opening, so as to encircle,like the bar I, the vertical lever O. The sliding movement of the bar onis subject to control of springs 19 p, which encircle it between itsbearings a, and are separated by a central pin or shoulder, 19 on thebar. The spring 1) in front is light and the spring pin rear is heavy,so that a backward movement of the bar will compress the heavy springand a forward movement of the bar will compress the light spring.

Each bar, at the point where the opening in it is formed for the passageof the vertical lever, has a notch, r, and on the vertical lever O is acorresponding spline or feather,s,which at two points, 8, at which thelever when in position meets the bars, is cut away, as shown in Figs. 2and 11. In putting the lever in place itis pushed upward through theopenings in the bars, its feather registering with the notches. As soonas it is in place it is turned so as to carry its feather out ofregister with the notches, (see Fig. 11,) and is thus held securely inposition.

The connections between the L-shaped bar and the draw-bar and betweenthe two bars and the lever should be free enough to allow the lever allneeded latitude of movement.

The mode of operation of my improved brake is as follows: When the trainfirst starts (supposing it to be drawn) the draw-bar will be drawnforward, carrying with it the connecting-strap l and the upper end ofthe vertical draw-bar lever O. The lower end of the lever willconsequently be thrown backward in the slot tin the arm N, the slide-barm acting as a fulcrum and the light spring h yielding for any excessiveamount of motion. While the car is moving very slowly the spring-pin 9will be forced out frequently by the action of the centrifugal weightsupon the lever e,

and by the action of this lever in turn upon the spring-pin, and willthus be disengaged from the'lever 0. As soon, however, as the speed ofthe axle becomes suli'icient to prevent the centrifugal weights fromacting upon the lever e, the pin 9 will be forced inward by its spring,and its end will project across the slot i in front of the draw-barlever 0. Now, if a brake be applied to the locomotive, or to any one carin the train ahead of the one having this brake upon it, the draw-barwill be forced backward, and this will cause the lower end of thedraw-bar lever to be thrown forward, and that will carry with it the endof the sprin gpin in front of it, and that in its turn will,by means ofthe connecting-link j, draw the friction-pulley shaft forward until itspulley or drum and the drum upon the axle are brought into contact andthe brake applied, in the manner similar to that described in myhereinbefore-referred-to application for Letters Patent. The heavyspring 19 will yield for backward motion of the draw-bar in excess ofthat required to apply the brake. When the train is again nearly at astandstill the centrifugal weights will act upon the lever e, to causethe pin g to be withdrawn from across the slot t, and thus disengagedfrom the draw-bar lever, thereby allowing the friction-pulleys on theshaft 1 and axle to become separated and the brake to be released. lf,when the train is started, it is pushed instead of being drawn, thedraw-bar will be forced backward, and the lower end of the draw-barlever 0 will consequently be thrown forward, so that when thecentrifugal arrangement ceases acting on the spring-pin g the end of thepin will be forced across the slot t behind the draw-bar lever. Underthese circumstances any further crowding in of the draw-bar will onlycause the drawbar lever to be forced against the forward end of theslot, while an outward pull upon the draw-bar will cause the said leverto be thrown back against the pin 9,- but, inasmuch as the latter cannotmove back of the longitudinal center of the slot, the operation willhave no effect upon the brake. The springspp will yield also in thiscase to allow for excessive motion of the draw-bar.

Upon trucks having no safety-beams the supports for the shafts and suchother portions of the mechanism shown in the drawings as bolted to thesafety-beams are fastened to the transom instead.

By makingthe loop-like bearingpieceg long enough to allow the pin totravel the full length of the slot t, and by placing the support orfulcrum near the center of the pin, instead of at the end, and by theuse of two of the connecting-linksj, one upon each side of the support,the brake may be made double-actingthat is, to cause a pushing in of thedraw-bar to apply the brake when the train is started by drawing, or tocause a drawing out of the draw-bar to apply the brake when the train isstarted by pushing, in a manner similarto the brakes described in myLetters Patent hereinbefore referred to.

The spring locking-pin gcan be actuated by means other than the lever 0.One arrangement for the purpose is shown in sectional front elevation,Fig. 13, and in plan, Fig. 14.

Like lettered parts in these figures indicate parts correspondii'ig tothose similarly lettered in the previous figures. The bracket N in thisarrangement is a simple L-s'haped piece, having its vertical armfastened to the transom D. The lever c is dispensed with; and while thefriction-drum and centrifugal-gravity mechanism are, as before, carriedon the axle, the drum is a plain one, made in two parts, clamped on theaxle, and provided with prolongations which carry the wheel-weights andtheir radial guide studs or rods, which, as shown, are exposed, and nothoused within the drum, the collars at the outer ends of the studs beingenlarged to prevent any possibility of the studs catching thebrake-chains.

The sliding spring-pin g, in this case, is operated by the action of thewheel-weights upon a vibratory lever, P, jointed to an L-shapedconnecting rod or bar, It, whose upright arm encircles the spring-pinbetween two collars fixed thereon. The lever is forked, so as tostraddle the axle, and is pivoted at w to a U- shapedsupporting-bracket, S. One of the arms of the forked lever is prolongedbefore the pivot, as at P and to this partl is jointed at 3 theconnecting-bar R. The lever is provided with a cam, T, which normallyprojects into the plane of revolution of the wheel-weights, so that whenthe axle revolves slowly enough to permit the wheel-weights to droptoward the center before reaching the cam the lever will, by the actionof the weights on the cam, be pushed back with theresultofpushing back,through the instrumentality of bar It, the spring-pin from across theslot 1'.

In Fig. 15 I have represented in sectional elevation an arrangement ofthe relief-spring a by means of which the power of the brake may bevaried to correspond with the load carried by the car. The spring-box afor the shaft 1 and the bearing-piece I are similar to like letteredparts hereinbefore described. Upon the top of the spring rests apiston-like plate, a", from which extends up through the top of thespring-box, a rod a loosely jointed at a to a lever. a pinned or pivotedat a to the piece 1 and at its other end hinged, as at a to a shaft orbar, a, attached to the bolster or some other part of the car-framewhich has the motion of the car-springs between it and the truck-frame,to which the relief-spring arrangement is fastened. Under thisarrangement, as the car-body settles upon its springs under the loadplaced upon it, proportionate pressure will, through the intermediary ofthe instrumentalities just described, be applied to the upper end of therelief-spring, so that a greater strainon the brake-chain will be required to lift the shaft I and its box a when the car is heavily loadedthan when it is light. The motion given by the operation of the springsbetween the axle-journal boxes and the truck may be availed of also tooperate the arrangementjust described.

Having described myimprovements, what I claim, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, 1s

1. The combination of the draw-bar, the vertical draw-bar lever, theslotted bracket, the

friction-pulley shaft, the sliding spring cross or locking pin connectedwith said shaft, the centrifugal weights, and mechanism intermediatebetween said pin and weights, operated by the latter to withdraw saidpin from operative connection with said lever at the times and in themanner substantially as hereinbefore set forth.

2. The centrifugal-weight device and friction-drum, mounted on one andthe same caraxle, in combination with the friction-pulley shaft, movableto and from said axle, the shaftoperating mechanism connected with andactuated by the movement of the draw-bar, and means, substantially asdescribed, acted on at stated times by the centrifugal weights todestroy operative connection between said mechanism and shaft,substantially as hereinbefore set forth.

3. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, of thedraw-bar, the draw-bar lever, the connecting-bar l, the slide-bar m, andthe springs 12 p.

4. The slide-bar m, its U-shaped bearingpieee 0 0, and springs 19 1),arranged on the under side of the draw-bar timbers, in combination withthe draw-bar, the draw-bar lever, and the connecting-bar l,substantially as set forth.

5. The combination, with the vertical draw bar lever andlongitudinallyslotted guidebracket N, of the friction-pulley shaft, thesliding spring cross-pin, the lever c, the car-axle, and centrifugalweights thereon, substantially as and for the purposes hereinbeforesetfnrth.

6. The hollow friction-drum mounted on the car-axle and provided with anannular side slot,as described, in combination with the centrifugalweights housed within said drum, and the lever e, substantially as setforth.

7. The sliding spring cross-pin, in combination with the friction-pulleyshaft and thoconnecting-hook link, said shaft and pin being mounted inbearings so as to be movableto and from the car-axle, substantially asset forth.

8. The friction-pulley shaft and relief-spring, in combination withmechanism arranged and operating substantially as described, to increasethe pressure upon the relief-spring proportionately to the increase ofload carried by the car.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 10th day of May,1881.

BENJAMIN L. STOWVE.

Witnesses SAMUEL KILPA'IRIOK, JAMES W. HALLENBEOK.

